Category: UK

Fertility treatment in the UK is more successful and safer than ever before, according to a report from the HFEA (Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority).

IVF is now 85 percent more likely to succeed than when records first began in 1991, said the regulator. Over 20,000 babies were born in 2016 as a result of more than 68,000 IVF treatments, an increase of four percent from 2015. The HFEA’s new report covers fertility treatment trends and success rates for the 2014-2016 period.

With more people facing fertility issues and couples increasingly seeking alternative routes to have children, there is a growing number of UK families created through surrogacy.

In the last three years, the number of children being born through surrogacy has almost tripled according to figures from the Ministry of Justice Family Court.

Surrogacy is no longer a taboo – along with adoption it has become an accepted alternative to traditional child birth. It has even recently featured in the Archers on Radio 4 and has been put into the headlines by Kim Kardashian and Kanye West who have recently used a surrogate to have their baby, Chicago.

Andrew Powell, barrister of 4 Paper Buildings, considers recent developments relating to surrogacy law, including new guidance, as well as the latest cases concerning administrative errors and the HFEA.

H (A Child: Surrogacy Breakdown) [2017] EWCA Civ 1798 (17 November 2017)
Like so many of the reported surrogacy cases in this jurisdiction, in H (A child: Surrogacy breakdown) [2017] EWCA Civ 1798 the court – on this occasion, the Court of Appeal – highlights once more some of the complexities of surrogacy in the absence of any form of regulation.

The facts of this case can be summarised as follows. A and B were a male same-sex couple who entered into a surrogacy agreement with C and D who were a heterosexual married couple. A’s sperm and a donor egg resulted in C’s pregnancy with H. The parties’ relationship broke down subsequently and communication between them ceased. After the birth, the solicitors representing C and D wrote to A and B to inform them that they no longer wished to follow the terms of the agreement and would not provide their consent to the making of a parental order (one of the essential ingredients under s54 of the HFEA 2008).

Government guidance has been issued for couples considering surrogacy in England and Wales, for the first time.

Two sets of guidelines have been released, one for surrogates and intended parents, and the other for healthcare professionals working with them.

Couples planning to enter into an agreement with a surrogate are recommended to use written agreements covering conception, expenses and any planned relationship between the surrogate and the child. They are also encouraged to use established surrogacy organisations in the UK to find a surrogate, rather than travelling abroad to clinics or using informal arrangements.

Raised by three lesbian parents, Jordan Waller had just a brief description of his biological father. Despite being bullied as a child, the actor says his upbringing has been a blessing

Supporting roles: Waller, 25, says his unconventional family has informed his acting career

I know about my dad is that he is a 6ft-tall doctor with brown hair and green eyes. My parents chose him from a list at a sperm bank in Bristol, and from the moment I was old enough to understand, they were open with me that I was born via artificial sperm donor insemination to my biological mum, Miranda.

The donor was chosen to match mum’s partner, Dawn, in terms of her physical characteristics, so on paper I should have been tall and dark, but I turned out to be blond and blue-eyed. My mum likes to joke that they must have mixed up the sperm

Sam Everingham, right, with his partner Phil Copland and their two surrogate daughters

Surrogacy support groups and family lawyers have criticised the government’s planned new laws on surrogacy, which they say will force 80 couples a year to go abroad to have children.

The government’s deadline for submissions on the planned Assisted Human Reproduction Bill, which will set up a new regulatory regime for surrogacy and other forms of assisted reproduction, closed last week.

It allows women to share the motherhood experience from the stage of conception.

Getty images

More and more lesbian couples are having babies thanks to a super cool fertility treatment known as ‘shared motherhood’. What’s cool about it? Both women are involved in the process, as one’s eggs are used, and the other carries the child. I know, science is awesome.

New research carried out by The London Women’s Clinic, has revealed just how successful and efficient shared motherhood fertility treatment is proving to be. So here’s everything you need to know about the process. Plus, a success story from a couple who’ve become parents this way.

There have been huge changes in the surrogacy options available to gay men in recent years. Once only available in certain US states, for a short period gay singles and couples were engaging in Thailand, India, Nepal, Cambodia and more recently Mexico for surrogacy. But Asian countries have closed their doors to foreign surrogacy, leading to renewed interest in the US and a surge in interest in Canada. Kenya, Russia and even Nicaragua are starting to offer surrogacy to fill the void left when Asian nations closed. However a raft of complexities remain.

The surrogate birth of Chicago, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s youngest child, has brought the issue of surrogacy into the public focus. Many couples here, unable to have children themselves, may look on at the apparent ease by which Kim and Kanye entered into surrogacy arrangement with some envy. For many in the UK, hoping to engage a surrogate and fulfill their dream of having a child, the prospects are bleak.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has granted permission for doctors to create the UK’s first ‘three-person’ children by mitochondrial donation. Doctors at Newcastle Fertility Centre successfully applied to treat two women and are now allowed to create embryos by combining fertilised eggs created through IVF with mitochondria from a female donor. The resulting embryos will be implanted in the two women.

If you were looking for a financial escape hatch to pay off student loans or mortgages by donating something that your body discards monthly, you should know something first. Men fake orgasms too – here’s why and how You have better chances of making money by finding one of Cadbury’s elusive white chocolate Creme Egg than you do donating your own.Read more